CHAPTER 20
With a Sectionals win under their belt, the New Directions split up for winter break. During this time, Finn had the time of his life skiing with Bella's family in their cabin in Mansfield. Skiing was another one of the 'essential life skills' Finn's dad had taught him before his death and Finn absolutely loved the sport. The feeling of the wind caressing his face as he expertly weaved down the slopes was unique, rivalled only by the feeling he got when skydiving.
Soon, the day before school started rolled around and Finn spent most of the day hanging with the Glee guys. That was until they had to cut the reunion short…
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"I really do not understand why you guys insist on wrestling each other," Bella said to him sternly. She wiped up the remainder of blood that had dripped down his leg and pressed the cold wet rag against the large gash on his knee. Finn's face winced in pain; damn that cut was really starting to sting. Yup. It definitely feels like his knee caught fire.
"It's fun." He replied, smirking at her, watching as she turned the rag over to press the clean side down onto his skin. Bella met his gaze, and he smiled at her. She'll lecture him, and he'll listen. Because he loved to listen to her, even if she talked for twenty straight minutes about how Puck and him should stop wrestling.
"Fun?" she exclaimed, not really seeking an answer. "Is it fun right now, after you've been thrown into Puck's computer desk, and you come to my house harboring a gaping wound? What if you come here next time with a broken arm or something? Will it still be funny then?"
Finn's smile just grows wider.
"Yup, it would be even more fun then. You know, me fighting with one arm… it'll finally be an even match." He grinned. She rolled her eyes and he continued watching her as she threw the rag into the hamper, unwrapped a bandage, and gently placed it on his knee.
"There you go," She beamed at him and she stood up.
"Thanks babe, good as new." He remarked, teasingly, standing up and grabbing her hands.
Bella rolled her eyes at him, failing to hide back a smile.
"It's hardly good as new, Finn. You have to change the bandage at least once a day, and actually you can have this Neosporin. It's probably a good idea to put some of that on every few hours so you don't scar. Oh and.." She paused and looked down. Finn gently rubbed his fingers up and down her arms a few times. She raised her eyes back up to his, biting her lip slightly. "No more wrestling?" She asked hopefully. Finn laughed and pulled her in for a hug, one hand fully around her waist, and the other holding her head to his chest.
"I'll be more careful," He murmured into her hair, and took a deep breath and he caught the scent of her shampoo.
"I just like to see you in one piece," She whispered, shrugging her shoulders slightly. He responded by placing a lingering kiss on her lips and she automatically wrapped her arms around his neck.
God, he loved her so much. He loved her worried gasp as she opened the front door and saw him bleeding, and the way she immediately brought him into the bathroom to take care of him. He loved the adorable way she looked down as she asked him to stop wrestling. He loved the feeling he got through his whole body when they kissed. She was crazy, hilarious, beautiful, and amazing. He just loved her.
They walked back downstairs, hand in hand, and he said his goodbyes to Bella's parents. Bella walked him to his car, and he promised to text her when he got home. He was rewarded with a giant beautiful smile, and a kiss goodbye. As he drove away, Finn looked back at her standing in the doorway at least three times before he finally turned off her street.
He just couldn't help it.
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He woke up choking…
Finn sat straight up in his bed, cupped his hands to his mouth, and tried desperately to focus on anything. The only thing he managed to see is his clock on the nightstand, the numbers reading 3:16.
He smelled smoke.
And he couldn't breathe. What the hell was going on? He couldn't… even… think.
Suddenly he heard the screaming voice of his mother…
"FINN!" she yelled down the corridor. "Finn, get up! We have to get out of here now!" She screamed, sounding terrified.
Smoke. Alarm.
The house was on fire.
Finn flew out of his bed, stumbled over his sheets and opened his bedroom door, only to be greeted with another cloud of smoke. He stepped backward, covering his mouth and nose and he slammed the door back shut. He forced himself to stay calm. Panic, and he would surely die. He had two options: open the door and sprint through the flames, hoping to not be burnt too severely or not be caught by falling debris. Not a great option. That left him with…
Finn smashed open his window and taking a deep breath, he leapt light-footedly out. Luckily for him, there was still snow on the ground below so it slightly cushioned the hard blow. Finn groaned in pain as he forward-rolled to reduce impact and a searing pain flashed through his shoulder. Once on the ground, he ran over to his crying mother. He held her tightly as she weeped into his shoulder. Kurt hugged Burt as he approached, and the four of them huddled together, catching their breaths. Finn took a blanket from a cop and wrapped it around his mom and brother.
He pulled away from the group after a minute, and his heart sank as he took in the scene around him. He saw at least four cop cars parked on the street. They were using walkie talkies and were rushing around, making demands to each other. Two fire trucks were pulled up practically on the front lawn, and a hose stretched up to the house spraying water.
People, random people, were walking all over his lawn and someone walked over to Burt and started to speak to him.
His neighbors were all outside in their pajamas, and he could see Tina, who lived across the street, standing in her driveway, looking at the wreckage with tears in her eyes.
He then turned to look at the house. The house that he and his mom were welcomed into - the house he had grown to love. The place he's been sleeping in for a year. And now it was up in flames right in front of his eyes. Finn looked toward his bedroom window, and tried to swallow the lump in his throat when all he could see was an orange blaze coming from the gaping hole.
And suddenly he was out of breath again.
Tears threatened to fall from his eyes, but he couldn't turn away. All he could do in that moment was watch as the inferno burned all of his memories from the past year. He couldn't even hear the commotion around him anymore. He thought of the movies they had watched in the den, the presents they had opened on Christmas, the party him and Kurt had thrown when Burt and Carole went out of town, the times Bella came over, the picture of him and his dad sitting on the mantle of the fireplace…
No.
He nearly fell to the ground. That was the only picture Finn had left of him and his father, and it was still in the house. He looked at it every day before he left for school. It was going to burn in the fire, and he would no longer have any piece of his father to hold on to.
Finn let the tears spill over, and before he could convince himself not to, he was sprinting into the flames at full speed, shoving a cop out of the way.
"I'm so sorry, Bella." He muttered as he embraced the flames…
He could get to the picture. When he jumped out of the house, the downstairs wasn't even on fire yet, and the picture was only about five feet away from the front door. He could do it. No, he HAD to do it. He HAD to.
He ignored the screaming protests of his mother, and stepped through the doorway of the house, entering the scalding room that he couldn't even consider a room anymore. The air was so thick, he could barely open his eyes, and the coughing fits started almost immediately. But he knew this house like the back of his hand at this point, and he used his hands to make his way over to the fireplace.
Finn felt around with one hand and used the other to pull his shirt up over nose, desperate for some clean air. He knocked over three or four pictures before he finally found the one he was looking for.
Once the picture was in his grip, he began stumbling back toward the door. He tripped, reopening the gash that Bella had bandaged for him just a few hours ago. He managed to get up, and he made his way back to the front door frame successfully.
The moment he was about to step out of the burning house, he felt something fall onto the back of his head, and the rest of the world slipped away as he fell to the ground, dropping the picture of him and his dad onto the burning Welcome mat…
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The ringtone woke Bella from a dead sleep, and she sat up with a zombie-like look on her face.
"Kurt it's Saturday," Bella moaned into the cell phone as she answered it. "6:15 on a Saturday. Finn and I are going parachuting in 3 hours. Talk to me then." She snapped. She was not going to tolerate someone interrupting her eight hours of beauty sleep.
"Bella, please come…"
"Kurt, you know I'd be more than happy to offer advice on your problems with Blaine, but can it be in three hours instead?" Bella interrupted him and growled.
"Bella, our house caught fire and you need to come to the hospital. Please." Kurt raised his voice, and his tone filled with desperation. She heard the other end of the phone line go dead.
One second was all it took for about thirty different things to fly through her mind. Why were they in the hospital? Did anyone get hurt? Did this affect Burt's heart in some way? Wait.. their house burned down? To the ground? Kurt sounded like he was panicking. Was he okay? Carole?
Was Finn hurt?
She shook the thoughts from her head, knowing she shouldn't jump to conclusions before she knew the full extent of the situation. Plus, she couldn't manage all these questions, which scared her because she was usually in complete control of her thoughts.
She took a deep breath, reached for the hoodie that Finn left at her house the night before, and shrugged it over her shoulders.
Her mom and dad weren't awake yet, so she scribbled a note on a piece of paper informing them of her whereabouts, and she rushed out the side door of the house…